The 2026 Edelman Trust Barometer reveals a growing shift toward insularity that is reshaping how trust is built, raising new challenges and opportunities for communicators, business leaders, and organizations navigating an increasingly fragmented world.

As brands head into 2026, New Year’s resolution marketing is shifting away from big promises toward credibility, restraint and long-term trust.

As CES 2026 gets closer, it’s becoming clear that the tone of the show is shifting, and PR and marketing teams should be paying attention. Looking across platform-specific media data, including analysis from Truescope, one pattern stands out. Coverage is moving away from big, splashy product reveals and toward a more practical question that audiences seem to care about more. How does AI actually show up in everyday life?

As trust in content, media and the digital systems behind them continues to erode, communicators can no longer think about credibility in simple terms and must start building trust across three dimensions, including a fast-emerging third layer shaped by technology itself.

Chuck Todd laid out his vision for rebuilding trust in journalism—by reinventing local news as a business built around service, sports, and community.

Authentication technologies like digital watermarking are fast becoming a necessity, not a luxury.

Discover how communicators can take the lead in the fight against disinformation with cutting-edge tools to protect and verify digital content.

The 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer underscores the critical role of communicators in combating misinformation and rebuilding trust amid deep societal grievances and widespread mistrust.

Valerie Di Maria, principal at the 10 company, shares strategies on optimizing leadership Q&A to foster genuine dialogue, build trust, and engage employees effectively.

In a prelude to the World Economic Forum, the latest 2024 Edelman Trust Barometer lays bare a concerning schism between innovation and society, becoming a key driver of heightened polarization. Unveiling a significant disparity, the study discloses that almost two-thirds of respondents see innovation as inadequately managed.

Storytelling has always been a powerful tool for communication in almost all the industries, and it has become increasingly important in marketing in recent years.